Labels

Compass Records, founded in 1995 by banjoist Alison Brown and bassist Garry West, pursues a unique musical and artistically diverse vision. Compass has emerged as one of the most respected independent labels in the music business. The label has pursued an ambitious path of growth including a very important one: providing a thriving haven of creativity for artists and a reliable beacon of quality for music fans. In 2006 Compass Records acquired the Green Linnet catalog and in 2008, the seminal Mulligan Records catalog, making Compass the place to go for Celtic and roots music.

The Compass Records Group has garnered appreciative press in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, The Boston Globe, People Magazine, Jazz Times, Paste, the Los Angeles Times, Downbeat and Billboard, among many others. Senior Nashville music critic Robert K. Oermann opined that “the entire roster is brilliant,” while the Wall Street Journal said, “Compass has established a distinctive sound and aesthetic in a town overflowing with talent and product.” Billboard Magazine called Compass Records “one of the greatest independent labels of the last decade.”

Over the course of hundreds of releases in folk, Celtic, bluegrass, Americana, adult pop and jazz releases, Compass co-founders Alison Brown and Garry West have nurtured the label with attention to detail and a passion for a wide variety of music. As professional musicians themselves, Brown and West bring to Compass a unique mix of business know-how and sensitivity to the needs of recording artists. Operating from the former Music Row offices of the Glaser Brothers who spawned country music’s outlaw movement, they are helping to preserve and develop roots musical genres often overlooked by the mainstream entertainment culture.

Described by Billboard Magazine as “One of the greatest independent labels of the last decade,” Compass Records was founded in 1994 by musicians Alison Brown and Garry West. Brown is a GRAMMY winning pioneer of progressive bluegrass whose explorations of jazz, pop, world, folk, Americana & Celtic music are reflected in the label’s diverse roster, which includes the largest Celtic catalog in the world.

The best-known brand in Celtic music, Green Linnet has cultivated and educated several generations of music fans. Compass Records Group is delighted to be offering many of the catalog’s most influential titles as remastered 30th anniversary editions.Founded over 30 years ago, Green Linnet has been the home to many Celtic artists worldwide, and includes over 200 recordings from artists including Niamh Parsons, Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill, Altan, Eileen Ivers, Cherish The Ladies, Kevin Burke, Old Blind Dogs, Patrick Street, and Tannahill Weavers.

Co-founded in 1975 by Dónal Lunny, Mulligan’s catalog features many of the classics of traditional Irish music including pivotal releases that formed the cornerstone of the Green Linnet catalog in the US.